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After reviewing the election results of Proposal 1, I recalled a quote penned some 150 years ago. It was “You can fool all the people some of the time, some of the people all the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”

Of course, the author was President Abraham Lincoln. He was a Republican back when that party stood for fairness, honesty and helping the working class. The latest group to profess to own that Republican name are, in fact, nothing more than shills for the rich and religious extremists.

As for a Plan B emerging after the ballot loss, Patrick Colbeck and this clan of Tea-partiers have already started rattling their sabers. These people have had so many convoluted ideas in the past, they make Proposal 1 look like it was a plain, open proposal. However, one common thread winds through all their plans, they will hurt the elderly, the poor, the middle class, our schools and local governments.

Hopefully, some reasonable road funding plan will come out of Lansing, but it most assuredly won’t come from Colbeck and his merry band.

James Huddleston

Canton

Opportunities missed

Recently we saw the bipartisan passage of House Bill 2 (H.R. 2) by both Houses of Congress and signed by the president. This bill was positive in several regards, but negative from at least two others.

Some of the positives included fixing the doctor reimbursement problem, adding incentives based on performance, making electronic medical record a priority, putting prosthetics and orthodontics out for bid, making identity theft Medicare fraud harder and increased payments to rural, Medicare dependent hospitals. Cost increases were covered by projected savings and Medicare Part B premium increases.

Looking forward, we hear of initiatives to cut Medicare benefits to “save it” and to even further privatize Medicare through a voucher system. The fight to preserve Medicare is just warming up.

To most citizens, Medicare is one of the best government programs ever and all steps that would preserve it should be taken. There are measures initiated in the Senate that would save Medicare tens of billions of dollars per year that were not even addressed in H.R. 2.

The first bill is Senate Bill 31 (S. 31) Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2015. The VA is already doing it, saving billions of dollars per year. The savings per a recent Congressional Budget Office report would be $121 billion over the next 10 years.

The second bill is Senate Bill 122 (S. 122) Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act. It would allow importation of 90 days supplies of prescribed drugs from FDA-approved sources in Canada where the same brand drugs often are less than 50 percent of U.S. prices. This would not only help seniors, but all citizens with estimated savings running as high as $240 billion over the next 10 years.

Congress should pass these bills before other major changes to Medicare are considered.

Donald Boyer

Plymouth Township

A big thanks

On behalf of The Salvation Army, I would like to share our sincerest thanks to all that participating in the 23rd annual NALC Post Office Food Drive. Each year, our mail carriers go above and beyond in promoting this food drive for this community. Since 2006, the Plymouth and Canton communities have donated more than 350,000 pounds of food to The Salvation Army food pantry — food that comes from this community goes right back into the community.

To the postal carriers, we say thank you for allowing us to be the recipients of this food drive. To the volunteers that helped collect and sort the food — we couldn’t have done it without you. A special thank you to Greg Stachura (GSA International LTD), Eric Joy and Chris Gamble (Christensen’s Plant Center) for donating the semi trucks and driving them.

The food has been sorted and is now in our food pantry. Each month we see more seniors, couples without children and single individuals, both working and retired, coming to our food pantry. Summer will soon be here and the kids will be home without access to free/reduced breakfast and lunch programs school. This post office food drive ensures that food will be available for them. We thank you.

Laurie Aren

director, Family & Community Ministries

The Salvation Army, Plymouth

Colbeck does homework

Mr. Dubanik is expressing his true feelings on positions taken by state Sen. Patrick Colbeck. I, along with a room filled to capacity with others March 20 at the Livonia Senior Center, met with the senator.

We discussed your concerns and the senator answered many questions. The responses were not always to our satisfaction, but they were direct and supported by factual documentation.

Sen. Colbeck has done his homework, unlike Rep. Pelosi, who had not read the ACA, and Sen. Reid, who blocked full discussion of issues on the Senate floor, or the recent candidate for governor of Michigan, who had no plans for the future of our state.

Sen. Colbeck has regular face-to-face meetings with constituents to help them develop better understanding of his actions and ideas.

Orville H. Kappen

Livonia

Thank you, Hiller’s

I have shopped at Hiller’s in downtown Northville for more than 26 years. We are devastated that our community is losing a small, intimate market to a large national chain. We love the meat and seafood departments – what are we going to do without our Christmas beef tenderloins cut and tied to our order? We can find brands at Hiller’s that are not available in large stores. We love the local business who showcase their products in Hiller’s stores. We love the great service and the people who have served us. We are are sad that these people will lose their jobs and have to reapply for them, probably losing seniority and cutting their pay.

I hope that the new employers are fair to these people. They should allow them to stay at their stores, if they wish. They should be integrated into the new union, but not cut their pay and benefits. And most of all, the new employers should do right by the people of Northville and other communities affected by this change. Hiller’s has always supported community businesses. I will miss the coupons for pizza, dry cleaners and the other special offers on the back of the receipts, as well as support for the the local schools and participation in community events. If the new employer finds ways to make the local people happy to shop in the new store, it will be well-rewarded by a supportive community. I hate it when the big machine with the big dollars signs gets its way. Goodbye, Hiller’s, it was wonderful.

Emily Serafa Manschot

Novi

Supports insurance reform

When it comes to auto insurance in Michigan, all sides agree on one thing: It costs too much. Michigan drivers pay among the highest premiums in the country, driven by escalating medical costs that have put auto insurance out of reach for too many drivers. We enjoy generous benefits in Michigan, but without effective reform, our no-fault system will ultimately fail.

Legislation to address this issue has been passed by the State Senate and will soon be considered on the floor of the Michigan House. The bills include several provisions that we believe will succeed in helping contain costs without reducing benefits. Most importantly, the legislators are attempting to reduce the disparity in costs paid for medical procedures between auto insurers and everyone else.

Under the current system, Michigan residents pay up to three times more for medical services when their auto insurance pays the bill instead of their health insurance. These costs are eventually passed on to drivers in the form of higher auto insurance premiums. The legislation also includes provisions for identifying and eliminating fraud and setting guidelines for in-home care reimbursement.

So what will happen to the money that is saved? AAA will pass the savings on to our insurance customers in the form of lower premiums. If it costs AAA less, it will cost you less. Period.

Our legislators have a historic opportunity to make the best auto insurance in the country more affordable for more drivers. We applaud Lansing for tackling this important issue, and we urge the Legislature to pass this bill and the governor to sign it into law. This is effective reform that will help make auto insurance more affordable. AAA has a long heritage of advocating for Michigan drivers, and we will continue to play our part in making affordable auto insurance available to all.

Steve Wagner

president, AAA Michigan

Make cancer top state priority

Recently, I joined cancer patients, survivors and caregivers from across Michigan to urge the Legislature to make cancer a top state priority. I asked lawmakers to increase funding for comprehensive cancer control and the state’s tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

I’m grateful to Rep. Laura Cox for taking the time to meet with me. She was well-prepared for our meeting, and showed great support for and interest in these issues. I hope she will prioritize Michigan’s cancer patients and survivors throughout the year.

Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Control Program reduces the burden of cancer through early detection, better treatment and enhanced survivorship. But funding for the program dramatically decreased over the past decade. Increased state dollars would be used to promote cancer-control strategies supported by scientific experts and research, including the Michigan Cancer Registry.

Additionally, Michigan’s Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program remains underfunded, despite successfully reducing youth smoking and helping smokers quit across the state. Michigan brings in more than $1 billion each year through tobacco taxes and the Master Settlement Agreement, but the state only spends $1.5 million annually on tobacco prevention efforts. Increasing funding to this crucial program could save our state millions of dollars in healthcare costs.

By increasing funding for cancer control and tobacco prevention, we could see fewer cancer diagnoses and deaths in our state. So let’s get moving.

Amanda Holm

Livonia

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